Address-stencil



G. J. EVANS.

ADDRESS STENCIL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 18, 1915. RENEWED FEB. 27, 1920.

1 350, 993 Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

OFFICE.

GUY J. EVANS, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

ADDRESS-STENCIL.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GUY J. EvANs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Address-Stencils, V of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a stencil which particularly designed for use in addressing machines in which a plurality of such stencils are fed one at a time from the stack in a magazine to means which produce an impression of said stencils successively upon the envelops, letters or other articles to be addressed.

In stencils of this character, as heretofore constructed, the panel on which the address was formed and the frame upon which the panel was mounted were permanently connected by paste or otherwise which necessitated discarding both the frame and the panel when the address became obsolete and was discarded.

It is the purpose of the present invention to provide a stencil of this character in which the frame is separable from the panel and permits of readily introducing the panel into the frame or removing the same therefrom, thereby enabling the frame to be saved and to be used repeatedly with different panels thus enabling a change of address to be effected or obsolete stencils to be canceled or discarded without involving undue waste and expense as has been the case heretofore.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of address stencil embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the address panel removed from its frame. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the address stencil corresponding to Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a slight modification in the construction of the stencil frame.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

In its general organization this stencil comprises a comparatively flexible panel upon which the address perforations are formed, and a comparatively stiff frame in which this panel is mounted. The address panel may be variously constructed but in the construction shown in the drawings the same preferably comprises a sheet 1 of thin Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

, 1920. Serial No. 361,724.

material which receives the address perforations 2 and a rim 3 secured to the border or marginal edge of the address sheet which rim is of somewhat thicker or stronger material for the purpose of stiffening or strengthening the panel, but retaining sufficient flexibility in the panel as a whole to permit of readily and easily bending the same. The latter, as a rule, is preferably of rectangular form, as shown in Fig. 2. If desired the entire address panel may be made of a single sheet of material.

The frame of the stencil preferably comprises two leaves or flat sections 4, 5 preferably of rectangular form, which are arranged one above the other and provided with corresponding openings 6, 7. These leaves are connected with each other at one of their corresponding ends adjacent to the respective edges thereof while their other edges arcdisconnected and thereby permit of readily introducing the address panel between these frame leaves or sections so that the address perforations register with the openings thereof and also permit easy withdrawal of this panel from between these leaves. The connection between the two leaves of the frame is preferably effected at one of their corresponding ends at a distance from the respective edges of these leaves so that the latter are clamped or constantly pressed with their opposing fiat inner surfaces toward each other, whereby the address panel when inserted between these frame leaves will be held in place frictionally by the grip of the frame leaves against opposite sides thereof and hold these parts in their proper relative position and prevent displacement thereof while the stencil is manipulated or used in the machine. This connection between the two leaves of the stencil'frame is preferably effected by means of a wire stitch or staple 8 which connects the corresponding ends of the frame leaves at a distance from the respective edges thereof, said staple preferably extending parallel with the companion edges of the frame leaves, as shown in Fig. 1. By this means a firm joint is produced between the connected ends of the frame leaves which causes those parts of the frame leaves imme diately adjacent to the inner side of the staple to firmly pinch or obtain a wedge hold on the adjacent edge of the panel upon pushing the latter inwardly between the two frame leaves and thereby retain the frame and panel reliably inplace relatively to each other.

Instead of using a staple for connecting the corresponding ends of the frame leaves this can be accomplished by means of a coat erly and reliably fed automatically from a supply stack to the printing position of an addressing machine it'is necessary for the stencil frame to be comparatively stiff and in order to enable the stencil to meet this requirement one of the leaves, preferably the upper one 4:, is constructed of comparatively heavy or thick material which is sutiiciently strong to impart the necessary rigidity to the stencil while the other or lower frame leaf 5 is made of comparatively light or thin material, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, so that when these stencils are stacked in a pile the same will not take up an undue amount of room.

By thus making one of the leaves of the stencil frame somewhat thicker than the other they are also not liable to telescope one within the other during the operation of feeding-the stencils from a magazine to the printing position of an addressing machine at which time the stencils are usually advanced step by step by engagement of the front edge of one stencil with the rear edge of a stencil in front of the same.

Furthermore, by making one of the leaves of the frame somewhat thicker than the other the address panels of adjacent stencils in the stack are prevented from coming in contact with each other when they become moistened slightly, warped or wrinkled by repeated inking thereof when in use, thereby avoiding the deposit of ink on the front side of one stencil against the back side of another adjacent stencil, which otherwise would be liable to produce a smeared or blurred address on' the envelop, letterhead or other article which is subsequently operated upon by the stencils.

By reason of the panel being separable from the frame it is possible to quickly replace an obsolete panel by another actire panel and thus enable the same frame to be repeatedly used for different stencil panels, thereby effecting a considerable economy in the cost of the stencils which are used in connection with an addressing machine of this character.

Moreover, by making the frame of the stencil separate from the panel it is possible to bend the same around a typewriter platen roll, and cut or perforate the address in the panel quickly, easily and properly on any ordinary typewriter before the panel is put into the frame, thereby avoiding the necessity of employing a special stencil cutting device as would be necessary when the panel is previously fixed in the frame and the address is cut in the panel after the same is permanently assembled with the frame.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the panel as a whole is comparatively flexibleso that the same can be readily bent and adapted to the curved surface of a platen roll for stencilizing the same and that the frame which subsequently receives the stencilized panel is sufficiently stiff to permit of properly feeding and using the stencil in an addressing machine.

I claim as my invention:

The combination, with a stencil sheet or blank adapted to be stencilized having a comparativel thin surrounding frame of a flexibility su cient,to enable it to be easily shaped to the curvature of a typewriter platen roll, of a second, rectangular, doublethickness frame of stiff material having a face opening substantially corresponding to the outline of the inner margin of the first mentioned frame, and an edge opening or slit large enough to permit the insertion and withdrawal of the first frame and attached stencilized sheet.

GUY J. EVANS. 

